Do Bomoh’s Have A Say

Two pieces of paper and a small block of wood were found under the table of the UMNO Supreme Council Meeting where the party president Abdullah sits. The fact that the slips of paper had Jawi script written on it, points to the working of a bomoh to help some one in the Supreme Council. Or, is it the other way around, to destroy somebody. Only the originators will know.

Abdullah has been leading the Government from 2003 and most of the decisions made by him would have been discussed at the same seat that bore the handy work. Can someone say governance was by the direction of a bomoh who must be super powerful to control the actions of Badawi. We don’t know.

As Anwar said, the evidence should have been given to the religious people to find out more rather than send it to the police forensic lab.

This question of charm, influencing people by using jins and devils, brings me to the time when I was a lad in Ipoh. This last house on the block, occupied by a couple without children, was supposed to be the abode of jins and everyone knew the owner was keeping jins just like rearing chickens. When you pass the house in a group the fear of the unseen was not there, but alone, your imagination runs wild and you think of the devil, and unseen ghosts. I don’t know of the others, but I used to walk past in a breeze or it was more of a run and walk pattern wanting to pass the house in a hurry.

To be honest, the people staying in that housing area had no way to confirm if the jins did exit in that house simply because nobody had seen these creatures and, although we were also told the naked eyes can’t make out the devil except the master. Now this master was a stern man who, as I remember, never smiled. Was this unfriendly attitude the cause for the people to be aloof from him and did someone introduced this jins culture when none was involved. But I am positive that in spite of all the furore of having the devil in the house nothing really happened. And by the way, the couple were childless, another tale was children and jins can’t stay together.

There is an old saying in Tamil, for a frightened man everything he sees is darkness, I do believe in this, and all these charms, burying of objects on the ground, are for people who fear and if you are strong these so called evils would not affect in spite of any talisman you may wear.

TWO "mysterious" pieces of paper and a small block of wood found at the Umno headquarters stirred the MPs yesterday.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim raised the matter, claiming he was concerned for the safety of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Police found the two tiny strips of paper with Jawi script on them and a small block of wood covered in white paper under the meeting table of the Umno supreme council meeting room on Tuesday. All three objects were stuck together directly underneath the head of the table where party president Abdullah usually sits. Police found the items during a security sweep of the premises in preparation for the party elections next week.

Police have not detained any suspects, although two police guards and a building staff who have security card access to the room have been questioned. The items have been sent to the police forensics laboratory to determine how long they had been there and to check for fingerprints. City police chief Datuk Muhammad Sabtu Osman declined to give details pending investigations. Anwar lashed out at the security arrangements at the Umno headquarters at the Putra World Trade Centre. He claimed the materials were often used in occult activities. "It looks like the work of a bomoh but the police have sent the material recovered to their laboratory. I think they should have sent it to the Religious Department," he said, while debating the Supplementary Supply (2008) Bill 2009 at the committee stage. Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee asked Anwar how the goings-on at the Putra World Trade Centre affected the Supplementary Supply Bill, which the House was debating. Anwar said: "This comes under security. Security arrangements for the prime minister," he said to much amusement from both sides. "I know he is retiring but his security is still paramount. I am worried and find this strange."